Warm air won’t affect big air
Posted on January 31, 2008
Despite unseasonably warm weather, people have not refrained from hitting the slopes at Massanutten – a local resort 10 miles east of Harrisonburg where students can ski, snowboard or snow tube during the winter season.
Jim Flynn, a JMU grad student and full-time snowboard instructor at Massanutten, has been snowboarding for eight years. This is his third year working at the ski resort.
“Believe it or not, it hasn’t been as bad as last year,” Flynn said. “This winter has been more sporadic, like off-and-on warm days, but overall it’s been colder.”
That was not the case last winter.
“We had to close from Jan. 3 to Jan. 20 last year because it was so warm,” Flynn said, adding that he was not happy about having to sit around for so long without snowboarding.
This year’s ski season started Dec. 8 and is expected to close around mid-March.
“You can never really predict the weather these days,” said Steven Showalter, Massanutten’s ski area general manager. “We haven’t had to close like we did last year.”
In fact, Massanutten has been busier than ever this year.
“It seems like we’ve had a lot of new visitors and families coming this winter,” Showalter said.
To makeup for the lack of snow, Massanutten uses snow machines.
“We can’t just wait around for it to snow,” Flynn said.
Massanutten has made almost 450 hours of snow so far, which is about the average amount for this point in the season. The total average for a ski season is about 800 hours of snow, Showalter said.
Overall, Massanutten seems to be having a normal year despite the unseasonably warm temperatures earlier this winter. This is particularly apparent on College Days at Massanutten, a favorite among JMU students. Every Wednesday and Friday from noon to 10 p.m., college students can pay $25 for a lift ticket and $25 for a rental.
